Starting your Genealogical Journey

Part 3 - Searching

Artist unknown : Brownings Pass, Arthurs' Pass. [Punch in Canterbury, 1865].

Ref: PUBL-0098-01-03-24. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

© New Zealand Society of Genealogists 2019

Part 3 - Searching 2 2

Contents Searching ........................................................................................................................ 3

Deciphering Handwriting (Palaeography) .................................................................. 5

Has it been indexed? .................................................................................................. 5

Searching by Subject ....................................................................................................... 5

Computer Transcribing ................................................................................................... 6

Search Tips for newspapers ........................................................................................ 6

Glossary .......................................................................................................................... 7

Where to next? ............................................................................................................... 7

This is part 3 of a 4 part series "Getting Started". These notes should be read in

conjunction with the accompanying video which you can find at

www.genealogy.org.nz/Starting-your-Genealogical-Journey_1716.

Photo Credits

All photos used with permission where applicable. Please get permission from the Copyright holder

before reusing.

Lieven Willemsz. van Coppenol, writing master

1910-0001-1/23-80 Te Papa collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/36185

Amsterdam writing master Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol (1588-1667) in his study,

working on his calligraphy, with his grandson, Antinious, reading over his shoulder.

A woman shouting into a man's ear-trumpet. Wood engraving.

Wellcome Library no. 12120i

catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1160286

Reading room of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.

Ref: 1/1-003844-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington,

New Zealand. /records/22414730

Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

Reading room of the Alexander Turnbull Library, 11 Bowen Street, Wellington,

during the 1930s. Photographer unidentified.

Acknowledgements:

Sarah Hewitt

Gerry McGlinchy

Mary Wood

Gill Knox

Wellington Masonic Club, Inc.

NZSG Board

Opening Credits:

Images from the Collection of Sarah Hewitt

Music: coelum by Kai Engel, August 2017

Part 3 - Searching 3 3

Searching The internet has given us unprecedented access to records on our family. We can

find original images online. We can order records from the other side of the world.

We can find where physical records are held. But finding these records involves

searching.

All searches use transcriptions of the original document - this means someone has

typed the information from a paper based record into a computer. There are 3

potential issues that can cause problems with the transcription and impede finding

your family's records:

Spelling

The idea of "correct spelling" is a fairly modern one. Do not assume that because a

name is spelt differently that it's not your family. There was not always consistent

spelling.

Finding the children of George and Elizabeth Cates from East Clandon in Surrey

was complicated by the spelling of Cates. Three children turned up in the

search, but another 5 were found looking through the parish register images.

Surname spellings included: Cates, Cate, Catte and Ceate.

Writing The people recording the records often wrote what they heard. Sometimes either

party were not locals and their interpretations can be very interesting! This may be

especially true for Irish records (as recorded by the English) and for the records of

Māori and other non-British people recorded by Pākehā here in New Zealand.

The Maw family from Norfolk have also been recorded as More/Moore/Moor,

which is not unexpected. They have also been recorded as Moy.....

Part 3 - Searching 4 4

Reading Handwriting varies from beautiful to the spider crawled out of the inkpot. Those

transcribing may not have read it the same way you would. You may find it easier to

spot your family name than they did!

Bad transcription is not limited to

ancient documents. This snippet of a

birth certificate from 1904 has provided

transcription problems.

How would you transcribe the first

name of this child?

In the index, she's Lorne.

In real life, she's Lorna.

Overcoming these problems

Be aware of the spelling variations of your family's names.

Always read the search help before you use a website for the first time. It may

not be easy to find, but have a look around.

Most genealogical websites allow spelling variations to be turned on and off.

Play with both options.

Use "fuzzy" searching.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundex - Soundex

www.nypl.org/blog/2011/02/22/what-boolean-search - Boolean searching

Be aware that some record sets are on multiple databases which may have:

o different search options.

o been transcribed by different people.

Browse through the records where you can.

Part 3 - Searching 5 5

Deciphering Handwriting (Palaeography)

You may need some help deciphering documents. Here are some tutorials:

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/reading-old-documents/

Has it been indexed?

Not all original images available on internet have been indexed. Records with images

will fall into one of three categories:

indexed and linked to the image - to access, click on the link

indexed but not linked to the image

not indexed but image available

For these last two, you will need to browse through the records until you find the

record you need. If it has been indexed, it will be quicker to find as you will know

where in the records to look. Browsing the records can find things that have been

mis-transcribed or that you didn't know you didn't know.

Searching by Subject

There a lots of records out there which have not been indexed by people's names.

You need to then search by subject. These can include:

ship name

occupation

location

school

military unit

These records may not have information about your family member by name.

However, they can provide information about the times and events that shaped their

lives. They may also provide inspiration to find other records.

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Computer Transcribing Many sources, including books and newspapers are "transcribed" by Optical

Character Recognition (OCR) software. The computer has transcribed the test and

no human eyes have played a part.

This results in two potential problems. Firstly, the quality of the originals will

determine which text is transcribed - newspapers are particularly problematic in this

area. Secondly, OCR text is not put into fields (such as first name, last name, birth

date etc) so you are search ALL the text, not a particular area of it.

Search Tips for newspapers

In addition to the general search tips, here are some more which make searching

newspapers easier:

If you know when something occurred, look at newspapers around that date.

Many newspapers were printed in the evening so an event that occurred in the

morning may be in the same day.

Don't limit yourself to local newspapers. Many events were reported in other

newspapers because there was a connection between both locations or to fill up

space.

Search wide and narrow - use a very wide term and a very narrow term to reduce

your results.

Try a more unique term such as a place name or a ship's name or an

organisation. Your family member may be referred to by their occupation rather

than their name.

Summary

When you search, you are relying on someone (or a computer) having taken

information from paper records and put in on a computer.

These can result in problems from both the original documents and the

transcription process.

Many records have not been indexed, so don't assume you will find everything in

a search.

Searching by subject can find general and specific information relevant to your

family.

Part 3 - Searching 7 7

Glossary Terms used in this presentation:

Images - in the context of genealogy, these are usually digital scans of original

documents such parish records, wills, census returns, newspapers etc.

Index - something that that guides you to a record. Examples, include the

alphabetical listing at the back of a book, or what can be found in an online search.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) - when a document (such as a newspaper) is

scanned, the process to read the text by the computer. This converts the printed

text to electronic text which is used to index the content of the document.

Records - something that provides evidence about the past, kept in writing or some

other permanent form.

Where to next? You have completed Part 3 of the Starting Your Genealogical Journey series of

Getting It Right. Part 3 covers New Zealand Sources www.genealogy.org.nz/Starting-

your-Genealogical-Journey_1716

For the other Getting It Right resources, see www.genealogy.org.nz/getting-it-

right_1715

Getting It Right: - Starting Your Genealogical Journey

1. Where to Start

2. Keeping Organised (includes

Computer Software)

3. Searching

4. New Zealand Sources

- Effective Research

- Sharing Your Family History